


Felicity's Got a Sister: And Other Things Oliver Didn't Know

by srmiller



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arrow - Freeform, F/M, Gen, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-07
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 18:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/srmiller/pseuds/srmiller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Felicity's sister Allison drops by Oliver suddenly realizes how little he knows about Felicity, starting with the fact she has a sister. When he finds out Felicity had a ten year plan he disrupted with his own mission, among other things, he reaches out in the only way he can think of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Smoak Screen Industries

Oliver stepped out of the elevator and saw a young woman, barely twenty if a day, with a short blonde hair cut framing a round face and big gray eyes. She was standing just outside the bank of elevators, staring down the hallway like it had just insulted her.

“You look lost.”

She looked up with a start, her smile quick and instant, “Do I? Probably because I am. This building is huge.”

He felt the glimmer of a smile at her baffled tone, “Why don’t you tell where you’re trying to end up and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

She crossed her arms, the leather jacket she wore looked worn and scarred and comfortable with the blue jeans and boots. He thought she looked a bit like an innocent rebel, “I’m looking for Oliver Queen’s personal internet researcher.”

The phrase confused him at first, his eyes narrowing until he remembered Felicity saying the exact same thing shortly after they’d met. She’d pushed her glasses up her nose with a smile, “Better known as Oliver Queen’s executive assistant?”

She smiled, “That’ll be her.”

“I’m actually headed up that way myself, why don’t I take you?”

“Thank you.”

“How do you know Ms Smoak?” he asked as they walked down the hallway towards his office.

“She’s my sister. I’m sort of dropping in on her, so hopefully her boss doesn’t get mad.”

“He’s kind of dependent on her, so I’m pretty sure she can get away with her sister surprising her.”

“Yeah? Good. I know she likes working here so I don’t want to mess it up.”

They turned the last corner and Oliver graciously opened the door for her, but since Felicity had her chair turned away and only hearing the door open she assumed it was just Oliver, “I’m going to remind you one more time, and this is the last time-“

“Would you mind waiting to scold me until we don’t have a guest?”

“What?” the chair whirled around quickly, almost doing a 360 before Felicity reached out and stopped herself by grabbing on to the desk. “Allison.”

“Surprise!”

He didn’t think he’d ever seen Felicity grin like that before, with laughter in the curve of her lips and the joy in her eyes, as if she couldn’t have stopped if her life depended on it. It was unfettered happiness when the two hugged, “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“I have some news and wanted to tell you in person. Your, uh, boss here was nice enough to help me find my way.”

Felicity smiled up at him with a wry grin, “That’s my hero.”

Allison turned, her arm still around her sister’s waist, “I’m sorry I didn’t realize who you were.”

“Don’t apologize,” he assured her. “It’s always a nice change of pace not to be recognized.”

“Do you mind if I go ahead and take lunch now? The, uh, program you asked me to set up is running and it will alert me when it’s done.”

Feeling intrusive, Allison separated herself from Felicity as her sister and her boss began talking business, “Go ahead and take the day.”

“Are you sure because-“ Felicity stopped talking as she glanced at her sister, who was mouthing something from behind Oliver’s back.

“He’s your boss?” she mouthed from behind Oliver. “He’s hot!”

Felicity’s eyebrows lowered over glasses in a non-verbal scold as she shook her head, causing Oliver to look behind him to only see Allison looking at them both innocently.

“Are you sure you can take care of things without me?”

“I’m going to try and find a way to manage for a few hours. If I break anything I’ll be sure to call you.”

“Don’t even say that! Don’t. That’s-You know what, we’ll just have dinner later,” she decided, turning back to her desk until Oliver grabbed her arm with laugh.

“Felicity, I won’t touch anything that’s not absolutely necessary. I promise.”

“You promise? Swear on the color green.”

He smiled down at her, and even from across the room Allison could see a level of affection she had never seen associated with her sister before. “On the color green, and on pain of paper-cut.”

 Felicity watched him for a full fifteen seconds but sighing, “Fine. But I’m holding you to it. If anything happens call me and I’ll be right over.”

“Go, enjoy your day.” Oliver turned to the young woman standing off to the smile. “It was a pleasure to meet you Ms Smoak.”

“Allison.”

“Pleasure to meet you Allison.”

“Nice to meet you as well.”

Felicity looped her arm around her sisters, “I know a great burger place not far from here.”

As she passed Oliver she gave him her best teacher-scolding-the-kid-in-the-back-of-the-class look, “Call me.”

“Have a great day Ms Smoak.”

She couldn't help but smile, “You too, Mr. Queen.”

Felicity and her sister stepped through the door, and before it closed Oliver could hear them, “Oh my God Lissy, how do you focus on work with that piece of eye candy hanging around?”

“Oh my God Allison, he’s my boss.”

“I’d like him to order me around.”

Oliver shook his head, and walked back towards his desk, _Lissy_ had a nice ring to it.

##############################

“So what brings the ambush?”

“Visiting my sister is an ambush?”

“When there’s ulterior motives it is,” Felicity challenged.

Allison played with the straw in her cup for a moment before she sighed and met her sister’s eyes, “I lost my job.”

“Oh my God, I’m sorry. What happened?”

“Lay offs,” she shrugged. “What can you do?”

“What are you going to do about school?”

“I don’t know?” she admitted, dropping her head in her hands. “I don’t think I can afford school without a job but I can’t find anything else.”

“I can help.”

“Thanks sweetie, but you have your own stuff to deal with, you shouldn’t have to pay for mine too.”

“You’re my sister,” Felicity explained with a shrug, taking a bite out of a fry. “Just let me know how much you need a month and where to send the check to.”

“I didn’t come here for your money.”

“I know, that’s why I’m giving it to you.”

“Thank you." She paused for a moment, seeming undecided, but eventually sighed and caught her sister's gaze, "Okay, I have to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”

“You and your boss swear on the color green? And pain of paper-cut?”

Felicity smiled, “It’s an inside joke.”

##############################

At the foundry that night Oliver walked down the stairs to see Diggle working out with one of the dummies, music blasting through the hidden speakers Felicity had snuck in to the foundry budget.

More than once he’d caught her dancing to Beyonce and Katy Perry.

“No Felicity tonight?” Diggle asked, taking the tape off his knuckles as Oliver laid his arrow on the table.

“No, her sister paid her a surprise visit by dropping by the office.”

“Oh yeah? I’m surprised she was able to get away from her classes.”

“Her classes? You knew Felicity had a sister?”

“Yeah, she goes to school in Central City. Majoring in business if I remember right.”

“I didn’t even know she had a sister.”

Diggle glanced over at Oliver and recognized the look on his face as one of irritation. Oliver did not like it when other people knew more than he did, “They’re only a couple years apart so they’re pretty close, they were latch key kids growing up so they depended pretty heavily on one another.”

“How do you know all that?”

“You were gone for six months,” Diggle pointed out. “And for a guy who doesn’t say much, you have a way of controlling the conversation.”

The music was interrupted by an alarm blaring, and Diggle immediately looked to Oliver, “I’m not calling her.”

##############################

Felicity put down her glass of wine when there was a knock at the door, at because she knew better than just to open the door, she glanced through the peephole, “Oliver.”

“Sorry to interrupt your day off but there was an alarm at…work.”

“Work? Oh. _Work_. Gotcha. Why didn’t you just call me?”

“I tried, but it kept going to voicemail?”

Confused Felicity went to her living room, Oliver following her and shutting the door behind him.

“Oops!”

He saw her holding her phone, looking guilty, “I forgot I put it on silent.”

“Digg and I managed to figure out how to turn the alarm off but we thought you might like to check it out.”

“I’ve got access from my computer, give me a minute. Allison, behave.”

“Always.”

Oliver looked down at where Felicity’s sister was sitting in an oversized sweatshirt, “I’m sorry to ruin your reunion with your sister.”

“No problem, she enjoys her job.”

He tilted his head, hearing the click of keys from Felicity’s office, “Oh yeah?”

“I mean, it’s not what she planned obviously, I don’t think secretary was in her ten year plan but she seems happy.”

“She had a ten year plan?”

“Have you met my sister? She’s got a plan for everything,” Allison rolled her eyes, but Oliver could see it was with affection.

“She wasn’t happy about the change, but I needed her to have my back.”

“She’s a good at that. She’s helping me pay for school since I lost my job, that’s why I crashed your office today. Not to ask her to help, but she’s good with planning so I thought she could help me work something out. I’m hoping not to need her assistance for long, but until I get another job…”

“She’s remarkable,” Oliver agreed. “So what was her ten year plan?”

“Smoak Screen.”

He smiled at the play on words which sounded like something Felicity would come up with, “What’s that?”

“She explains it better than I can, but basically she wants to build software programs for education, tapping in to the different learning types to allow kids to be able to learn at their own pace and within their own learning style. It would be a tool for teachers to use in their classrooms.”

“That’s impressive.”

“That’s Felicity,” Allison corrected.

“Okay. It was a message," Felicity announced, oblivious to the fact she'd been the topic of conversation while she'd been gone.

“All that for a message?” Oliver asked, incredulous.

“It was an important message. From, uh…our contact at the aviary.”

“Aviary?”

Felicity gave him a pointed look, “The one with the canaries.”

“Oh. Right. That contact. Usual place?”

“Usual place, high priority. Let me know if you need me at the office.”

“Will do, have a nice night ladies.”

Oliver walked out the door and as soon as it latched Allison made an appreciative humming noise in her throat, “Does the hottie with the body often come over to your apartment in the middle of the night?”

[ **Felicity thought of the one other time Oliver had been over, after Deadshot had attempted to take her out and he’d stayed the night to make sure she was safe** ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1020861)

And she was not about to tell her sister that.

“No.”

“But he is a hottie with a body.”

Felicity smiled and reached for the wine, she didn’t think a statement like that really needed to be agreed.

It was sort of a fact of life.

##############################

The next day, with her sister safely back at school with a signed check for the first payment of the term Felicity was happily ensconced in breaking in to the ATF database. She was pretty sure she didn’t have much further to go when Oliver came up to stand beside her and laid a business card on the desk next to her elbow.

“What is this?”

“Read it,” he told her with that smile she had grown used to seeing.

“Felicity Smoak, Smoak Screens Industries, a QC Company.” Her head snapped up and she stood up so fast Oliver reached out to catch her arm so she didn’t lose her balance. “How did you know about this?”

“I had an interesting talk with your sister today. She told me about your ten year plan.”

Felicity stared down at the card, not sure what it meant, but completely touched by the sentiment.

“That was before we got together,” she explained quickly. “I mean before I joined. Well, I was still kind of thinking about it but then I officially joined after Walter was found and it didn’t seem to be in the stars anymore.”

“You had plans for your life, Felicity,” he said quietly, enjoying the look on her face as she stared at the piece of paper in her hands. “Before I came in and messed everything up I mean.”

“You didn’t mess it up Oliver,” she argued, reaching out to touch his hand. “You just diverted it. Like a construction zone.”

“Construction zones aren’t meant to be permanent,” he argued. “Right now Queen Consolidated doesn’t have a lot of money to invest in new projects-”

“Oliver, you don’t-“

He held up a hand to stop her, “I’m not done. We don’t have a lot of money to invest in new projects right now, but once we do you’re getting your own office.”

“And what about all this?” she asked, her arm waving to encompass the foundry.

“We’ll find a balance I promise. And I'm sorry I never bothered to ask about your family or plans or your dreams.”

"You're my dream Oliver. I mean, this is. All I ever wanted to do was help people, and with you and Digg, I am. Sure, it's not how I originally planned on helping people, but just because it's unexpected doesn't mean it isn't right. This is right, Oliver."

"The offer stands as long as I'm breathing Felicity. You've helped me reach my goals, let me help you reach yours."


	2. Felicity's Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple argument blows up between Felicity and Oliver, revealing secrets neither of them have admitted to each other before.

Felicity walked-well, it was more like stalked in to Oliver’s office, and dropped the files he’d requested on his desk without ceremony, “Mr. Queen.”

“Thank yo-“ he stopped when she turned around and gave him one of those glares which made him feel like he’d just been caught checking out the pastor’s daughter during the service.

It was five o’clock and her sister Allison, who was on break for school and staying with Felicity, was waiting for her sister to clock off so they could go have dinner. They had a quick conversation before Felicity stepped out, presumably to get her things, and Allison gave him a sympathetic smile through the glass as she walked over to his desk, “Pissed her off, did ya?”

Oliver gave her a wry grin, “We’re having a slight disagreement about how to take care of a little wrinkle.”

Allison leaned against the doorframe, and Oliver was once again reminded how different the younger sister’s style was from his friend. While Felicity walked around like she had just stepped out of a quirky rom-com, Allison looked like a member of Fast & Furious with her leather jacket and boots.

“If it makes you feel better, as long as she’s talking to you she’s not too mad.”

“I beg to differ.”

“I remember this one time when Lissy was on break from MIT and we went out to dinner, just the two of us, and her ex was there. I saw him at the hostess desk behind her and I told her he was there and she just raised her eyebrow over her glasses in a kind ‘oh?’ look and then didn’t mention him again for the rest of the night.”

She walked forward and Oliver leaned against his desk, liking the cadence of her voice. It was if everything she said was a story, a long walk rather than the quick sprint he was used to when talking to Felicity.

“See, he knew I’d seen him, and probably figured I’d told her, so he was watching us most of the night. I’m guessing he was wondering if she was going to cause a scene or not because their breakup was not exactly amicable, but she never even turned in his direction. He eventually got up and walked right past our table, and she didn’t even flick a glance at him.”

“She hated him that much?”

“No, she was indifferent to him. Felicity is an all or nothing kind of girl, if you betray her trust, if you hurt her-truly hurt her, she walks away and she doesn’t look back.”

“So as long as she’s snapping at me-“

“You’re in the doghouse, but there’s a way out.”

“Any suggestions.”

“I can’t give you all the cheat codes, boss. You got to work for some of it.”

“Allison, are you ready?”

Looking behind her, Allison saw her sister was ready to leave but before leaving she gave Oliver a saucy, teasing wink and left with Felicity.

##############################

“I like your sister.”

Felicity glanced up from the foundry computer and looked over her shoulder to see Oliver coming down in jeans and sweatshirt.

She didn’t often see him dressed casually anymore, there were so many suits (both of the three piece and the hooded variety) it was nice to remember what a normal guy he could look like.

Then she remembered she was angry with him and turned back to the computer.

“I think she likes me too,” Oliver egged her as he leaned against the desk next to where she was typing.

“I’m sure you charmed the pants off her.” She closed her eyes at how it sounded, but didn’t bother to correct herself and kept on typing, focusing on her work.

“I like your sister,” he repeated. “Why haven’t you ever brought her around before?”

She stood up from the desk, the chair sliding away, she realized the mad he’d started her on earlier was growing exponentially, and even if she didn’t know why, she did know her temper was about to be out of control, “Oh, I don’t know. How about because I’m leading a double life with a billionaire play-boy who dresses up in a green hood and shoots arrows in the middle of the night? How about because I have to lie to her when I have to come here because of a sudden emergency?”

Oliver saw the fire in her eyes, the aggressive stance. He knew defensive when he saw it, but he kept his voice cool to heat, “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you never talk about yourself. If it wasn’t for Allison I would never have known about the company you wanted to start, or how if someone breaks your heart you cut them out of your life without a second thought.”

“Hey! No!” she stepped forward, poking him in the chest, “You don’t get to gossip with my sister about my personal life, okay? Not cool.”

He stood up from the desk, pushing her hand away and taking a step for distance, “But that’s just it, Felicity! You and Digg give me crap for not opening up, but you guys know why I don’t. No happy stories, remember? But I don’t know why you don’t. I can mention…I don’t know, orange slices in front of your sister and she will give me a ten minute story about finding an orange at the bottom of her stocking on Christmas morning.”

“We’re Jewish.”

He eyes narrowed sharply, and he felt his temper, carefully and cautiously reined in at all times slip loose, “There! That’s the most personal thing I know about you, but that’s it. Is your mom Jewish? Your dad? Both? And I know you’re not practicing because I’ve seen you eat bacon cheeseburgers like nobody’s business.”

“Whoa, you do not mention a lady’s eating habits.”

“Felicity,” he warned.

“What do you want from me Oliver? My whole tragic past?”

“No! Yes, eventually.” he snapped, but finally managed to control his temper because he saw his friend felt backed in a corner, she looked frantic and angry and off balance and even if he couldn’t pin-point exactly how and why the fight started, he could decide to end it. He took a steadying breath and a cautious step forward, “You’ve seen my scars, Felicity.”

“No, Oliver. I really haven’t.”

Her voice had cooled, and he knew that if he wanted Felicity to open up, he was going to have to do some frankness and sincerity from himself. If he wanted truth he was going to have give some first.

“I met someone. On the island.”

It hurt to say it out loud, to admit she had existed at one point but didn’t anymore. It was painful to remember, and harder to push the memories back.

And something in his eyes, in the roughness of his voice, seemed to reach her.

There was compassion on her face, instantly, because she was Felicity and she couldn’t help but feel the pain of someone else, but he waited until she looked away. Her crossed arms were held tightly against her, an attempt to protect and defend herself, her nails digging in to her arms.

She licked her lips, and finally, finally met his eyes.

“My parents drank.”


	3. Happy Birthday Felicity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Felicity's birthday and Oliver gets her the perfect present

Felicity’s apartment was decked out in pink, green, and yellow streamers. There were matching balloons and a banner taped to the wall, and when the birthday girl finally found him standing awkwardly just inside the door she was wearing a birthday hat and blew one of those birthday toys which curl and uncurl as you breath in to them.

With a grin, she hit him on the cheek with the end of it.

“You made it.”

“I did.” He looked around the apartment, larger than he remembered it [ **the last time he’d been there a few months ago but then again his focus hadn’t been on the apartment. It had been on making sure she was okay.** ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1020861)

“There’s a lot of people here.”

“Were you under the impression you and Digg were my only friends?” she asked slyly.

Oliver smiled and shook his head, “No. Of course not, I guess it’s just more people than I expected.”

“Don’t worry Oliver,” she assured him, looping her arm around his and leading him in to the fray. “We’ll get a couple drinks in you and you’ll remember how to fun in no time.”

“I know how to have fun.”

“Yeah, working out doesn’t count. And neither does brooding while we’re on the subject.”

He took in the myriad of faces spread throughout the living and dining rooms, thinking there had to be over fifty people there, “I don’t think I know anyone here.”

“Which is true for everyone when they’re born,” she informed him. “Then we learn to say hello and that changes, I’ll teach you how.”

“Hey there, hottie with the body.”

Oliver turned, a smile already on his face as he recognized the voice of Felicity’s sister from behind him, “Allison, it’s great to see you.”

With a smile she accepted his hug and winked at her sister over his shoulder, “You look like you need a drink.”

He looked at the two sisters standing next to each other, one with the edgy a-line, the other with the soft, elbow length curtain he didn't often get to see free from its ponytail. Absently, he wondered if Allison wore contacts like Felicity was, “I’m not sure if I should be worried the Smoak sisters are trying to get me drunk.”

“It’s all part of a diabolical plan,” Allison assured him, turning to her sister. “You know, Smoak Sisters would be a good band name.”

“Sisters Smoak would be better,” Felicity suggested, pouring Oliver’s usual which she had learned from more than one gala playing undercover or as executive assistant. Which, she supposed, was technically undercover as well. When had her life gotten so…odd?

Right about the time Oliver had walked in to her office with a bullet-ridden laptop, a charming smile, and a terrible lie.

“It would!” Allison agreed, “You could be lead singer, I’ll be drums. Oliver can be our personal bodyguard and roadie.”

“I can play bass.”

Both sisters, two different women with the exact same expression, looked up at him with amused surprise.

“You play bass?” Felicity clarified, handing him his drink.

“Learned while I was in high school,” he admitted. “I haven’t picked one up in years but I’m sure I could find my way around a chord or two.”

Felicity smiled and took a sip of the wine she’d poured herself, “So many things to learn about Oliver Queen.”

“Speaking of which, June.”

Felicity’s lips pursed off to the side the way she did when she was sorting through something then laughed, “April. Goat.”

Oliver looked down, neither him nor Felicity noticing Allison’s amused look as she watched the two interact playfully, “Goat? Are we talking…what? Favorite barn yard animals?”

“Sure,” Felicity shrugged.

Oliver scoffed but seriously considered it the question, “Actually, I’m going to go with goat too. And on that note, I just saw Digg come in, I’ll find you in a minute.”

“Wait, what about my birthday present.”

“Don’t worry,” he winked at her before moving in to crowd.

“I’m sorry,” Allison moved in to block her sister’s view of the retreating back. “April and goat?”

Felicity met her sister’s eyes, though a couple years younger than herself, Allison was just as tall Felicity and today had thankfully left the scarred boots at home in favor of flats to go with the black skirt and spaghetti string blouse.

God, her little sister was growing up fast.

But there was a question to answer and explanation to revise, “We got in to a fight a couple weeks ago thanks to you.”

“I’m not sure how I’m in involved in April goats.”

“You told him about Devon.”

Allison remembered the conversation she’d had with the CEO of Queen Consolidated in which she had mentioned an ex of Felicity’s who had learned a hard lesson that you don’t get to hurt Felicity and stay on her good side. “Oh. I didn’t realize it was a secret.”

Felicity sighed and decided to freshen her glass, “It wasn’t but it made Oliver and me realize we’re not exactly the most forthcoming people so we’ve got this thing going on where each time we see each other, as the long at the moment allows it, we tell something about ourselves and the other person has to respond. He said June, his favorite month, I said April.”

“You say goat is your favorite barn yard animal and he agrees,” Allison finished. “How did you know he was talking about favorite his month?”

“The game evolved,” she shrugged. “Now we have to figure out what the other person is talking about.”

“Interesting mating ritual you got there Lissy.”

Felicity, sans glasses because they got in the way of the party hat, narrowed her eyes, “It is not a mating ritual. It’s two friends getting to know each other better.”

Allison made a humming sound which indicated she wasn’t sold on the matter, but chose to drop it for the time being, “What else are you learning?”

“Oh, uh,” Felicity went through the things they’d talked about and tried to sort them in to things Allison could know and things Allison probably shouldn’t know. “Favorite songs, worst high school memory, the one thing you’d miss most on a deserted island.”

“Why do deserted islands make you smile like a loon?”

With a laugh Felicity clinked her plastic cup with her sister’s, “Inside joke.”

Later that night, after the cake had been cut and most of the present opened the party began winding down and Oliver found Felicity on her balcony nursing her last glass of wine for the night.

“Hey there birthday girl.”

She looked over at him with a smile, “Hey there yourself. Did you have fun?”

“I did. How about you?”

“It was great. [ **I found a bottle of vodka on the table with my other presents with a note.”**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1040616)

“What are the chances I’m going to go back to the club and find a very expensive bottle missing from the shelves? What did Sarah have to say?”

“She just wished me a happy birthday and told me to save it till the next time she visited.”

“She must have only been passing through.”

“I think she had Digg deliver it for her,” she guessed.

Oliver nodded and reached in to his coat pocket, “I was going to head out soon, but I didn’t want to leave without giving you this.”

Felicity looked down to see a jeweler’s box in his hand roughly the size of his palm, “Oliver, you didn’t-“

“Yeah. I did.”

Setting her wine glass on the balcony’s ledge she gingerly picked up the box but didn’t open it, “You’re not going to make me feel guilty by giving me an expensive present are you? Cause I don’t need anything extravagant.”

Oliver chuckled, “You’d feel guilty if I gave you a ring from a quarter machine.”

She looked up at him, “Don’t knock it, I love those rings.”

“Of course you do. Will you just open it already?”

With a deep breath she opened the lid, closing one eye as if it would make a possible shock easier to handle, and couldn’t help the lovely little gasp which escaped when she saw the necklace on the white velvet.

A silver chain, he must have noticed somewhere along the way she preferred it to gold, weighed down by a pendant.

And not just any pendant.

A green arrow.

The chain connected on either side of the fletching, before Oliver she would have called it feathers but she knew better now, so the arrow made of emerald pointed down.

“Oliver.”

The word was barely a whisper, but he heard it.

“I heard about this quote recently,” he explained, picking the necklace up from the velvet and indicating for Felicity to turn around. As he spoke she lifted her hair and held it out of the way, “From Thea actually, that says ‘An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it's going to launch you into something better.’”

He clasped the chain around her neck and felt her hair fall on his hands as she let it fall back over her shoulders, when she turned around she was looking down at the way the green seemed to shimmer from the candles she’d lit around the balcony.

“So I hope no matter what difficulties lay ahead, and that includes me and what I-“

“We,” she corrected. “What we do.”

He smiled appreciating the thought more than she probably realized, and without thinking he reached and adjusted the arrow so it was perfectly centered, “I hope you’re headed for something better.”

“Oliver,” she scoffed, hiding a soft laugh. “What could possibly be better?”


	4. Felicity Has a Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity's sister Allison lets it slip Felicity got a little bit ink while at college, which of course, is news to Oliver

Oliver opened the door to the roof of the Queen Consolidated building and saw the familiar jacket standing near the ledge, and the sound of the door opening, Alison Smoak jumped and turned around, her right hand held behind her back.

Even if it wasn’t for the pack of cigarettes still sitting on the ledge and the smell of nicotine in the air, it was pretty obvious what she was up to.

“Your sister’s looking for you.”

Allison cursed, over the past four months of knowing her he’d learned Allison’s language was much more colorful than her older sister’s, and crushed the bud beneath the toe of her boot.

“Do not tell her what you saw up here.”

“You smoke?”

“Absolutely not,” she assured him, even as she dropped the pack in to her purse. “But it’s finals week coming up and I’m stressing out. It’s either this or becoming an alcoholic.”

Oliver smirked, “Tough choice, I’m not sure if I’d be any different if I had ever made it to a finals week in college.”

“I’m sure you’d do much better at business school then you did back then.”

“You mean as a CEO of an international company?”

“It would make case studies much easier,” she agreed.

“Do you know want kind of business you want to get into?”

“No,” she admitted, leaning against the ledge. “I wasn’t ever good at anything, not like Lissy is with computers. So when it was time to make a decision business seemed like the least messy thing. I’m not good with people, but charts and graphs, projections, marketing, those I can do.”

“Marketing involved people.”

“Marketing involves knowing about people, not actually interacting and getting along with them.”

“You get along with me.”

She shrugged off his compliment, “You’re Felicity’s friend so I kind of cheated.”

“Oh, yeah? She talked about me, huh?”

“No comment, Mr. Queen. Sister confidentiality is sacrosanct.”

“Understandable. Well, if you don’t know what you’re going to do come summer break and I’ll see if we can find an intern spot for you here at QC.”

“An intern spot?” She smiled in a way Oliver was beginning to know, and be wary of. “You made my sister your secretary-“

“Don’t say that word around her.”

“And you’re going to give me a highly coveted intern position? Oliver Queen, people are going to think you’re playing tag with the Smoak sisters.”

Oliver laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her back to the roof access, “First off, your sister would kill me, and secondly I don’t think I could keep up.”

Allison winked, “You’ll never know until you try.”

Shaking his head, nearly blushing, Oliver ignored her tease, “You’ll let me know about the internship?”

“I’ll let you know,” she promised. “You have to promise not to tell her about the cigarettes, if I can just get through one more year without Felicity finding out about the smoking or a tattoo, I win.”

“You win?” he asked as the door shut loudly behind them.

“Yeah, I’ve been teasing Felicity for years about how I’d never get as stressed as she got for finals, and if I did I would not decompress by getting a tattoo.”

Oliver stopped on the steps, “I’m sorry, are you saying Felicity Smoak-my Felicity Smoak, has a tattoo?”

Allison stumbled, and cursed.

“I probably wasn’t supposed to say that.”

“Your secrets safe with me,” he promised.

“Tell Lissy I’ll be down in the lobby when she’s ready.”

Oliver walked in to his office and smiled when he saw Felicity sitting at the desk, typing away, her hair pulled back, glasses in place.

She was wearing a dress, as was usual for her, and as far as he could see there were no tattoos on her ankles, her legs, and over the course of their…friendship he’d seen her bare arms, [**and in one unfortunate and still fear-inducing moment caused by Deadshot, he’d seen her in her underwear.**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1020861)

But he’d taken special care at the time to not notice her.

There were some things a man didn’t need to torture himself with.

Which left only a few places with Felicity to hide her ink.

Walking across the room he rested his hands on the desk and leaned forward, waiting for Felicity to look at him.

“I’ve got the-what? Is there-do I have something on my face? I had a salad for lunch, do I have dressing on my face or something?”

He smiled and shook his head.

She glanced down at his mouth, his grin was wide enough to show his teeth, there was a new playful-mischief in his eyes which was as intriguing as it was worrisome, “I don’t like that smile. Why are you smiling at me like that?”

Oliver made a show of looking at the exposed skin on her arms, “Where is it?”

“Where is what? What are you talking about?”

“Felicity Smoak, where is your tattoo?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head, a gesture he recognized but usually came after one of her charming Felicity-slip-ups.

“I’m going to kill my sister.”


	5. Felicity's Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out from her sister Felicity has a tattoo, Oliver insists on finding out what it is and, more importantly, where it is. But once he does he find there's a surprising connection between her tattoo and the island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely made up everything I say about binary numbers, I don't know how much of it is true or completely inaccurate--let's call it creative liberty.

“Come on, spill it.”

“Absolutely not,” she argued standing up and walking away from desk.

Oliver followed, not willing to give up just yet.

After running in to Felicity’s younger sister Allison, she’d let slip his Girl Wednesday was sporting some hidden ink. And the blonde EA wasn’t spilling.

“You’ve seen my tattoos.”

“Yes well, that tends to happen when one walks around nearly naked.”

“I know it’s not on your arms, or your shoulders,” she’d worn tanks and enough spaghetti tops to eliminate most of her back. “Not on your feet, ankles, or calves.”

His eyes touched the body parts as he ticked them off his fingers, “Felicity Smoak, do you have a tramp stamp?”

Felicity couldn’t help the laugh which bubbled between her lips at his accusation, since their fight a few weeks ago (also inadvertently caused by her sister) she and Oliver had taken purposeful strides to being more open with each other. Digg had always been an open book, and while both of them at one point or another had confided in their friend, Oliver and Felicity had always found it harder to open up to each other.

It was difficult to appear strong, after all, when you let your weaknesses show.

So they’d been admitting things; hard things like her parents’ drinking and Shado’s death, but they’d found pleasure in the little things like favorite ice creams and movies and somewhere in the silly and thoughtful admissions Oliver’s walls had receded, he was more liable to tease now than when she’d first joined Team Arrow, and though she never asked, she suspected she was getting a look at Oliver Queen pre-island.

And it was something to witness.

“I do not have a tramp stamp. I’m surprised my traitorous little sister didn’t tell you.”

Oliver shook his head, “She didn’t. If you won’t tell me where it is, can you tell me what it is?”

Felicity stared at Oliver, dressed in the suit and tie he wore so well but somehow always looked a little confining on him, “It’s binary code.”

He looked confused for a moment, “That’s computer stuff right?”

“It’s the stuff that runs computers,” she corrected. “The grouping of zeroes and ones to create code.”

“What’s the code?”

With a sigh she turned around and walked back to her desk, pulling a pad of paper and pen closer and writing the series of numbers down.

Oliver picked it up, but knew he’d never figure out what it meant, “What does it say?”

“It’s a date,” she confessed, taking the pad back and writing three numbers underneath the code and handing it back to him.

His eyes looked up sharply, and she could all but see him trying to make pieces fit in his mind, “What?”

“Why this date?”

“I got the tattoo two terms before I graduated, that was the date of the upcoming ceremony. I thought if I had a constant reminder of what I was trying to accomplish, not just the diploma but everything else, I wouldn’t be liable to give up. Which I thought about on more than one occasion.”

“Felicity Smoak doesn’t give up,” he corrected absently. “What ‘everything’?”

“Freedom? Freedom to go where I wanted, be who I wanted. I’d been tied to my family and their problems for so long and then I was tied to school and classes and I just wanted to remind myself there was going to be a time when it was all up to me. Nothing to tie me down or hold me back. Why?”

“This…” he cleared his throat, the words somehow getting caught. “This is the day I got off the island.”

“You came back to Starling City-“

He shook his head, already knowing what she was about to say. “That’s when I came back. I was off the island a week before I got stateside, first there was the boat, then port, then the embassy, all before I even got a plan headed west. This was the actual physical day I got off the island. Different year of course, but still.”

They stood next to her desk, both realizing the date was significant, but not sure how to put it into words how it seemed to create a new connection between them. As if they’d somehow both been destined to find each other, as if a shared date had entwined them before they had even met.

“Where is it?”

She reached up with her right hand, wrapping her arm around her body to touch a spot on the left side of her rib, just below her bra, “Right here.”

“Felicity Smoak has a tattoo,” he smiled, reaching up to brush his hand against the spot she’d indicated.

“That was my first one anyone,” she smirked, thoroughly enjoying the look of shock and surprise on his face. With a laugh she walked around and sat back in her chair, “And before you ask, you don’t get to know where the second one is.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her, but his mock-stare was ruined when she looked up behind her glasses and winked at him.

Suddenly he couldn’t tell if she lying about a second tattoo or not.

And it was going to drive him crazy.


	6. When Felicity Realized She Liked Boys / When Oliver Realized He Liked Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A throw away comment by Felicity's sister Allison leads Oliver and Felicity to discuss a sensitive topic, her parents, but the mood lightens when they talk about their first crushes (and because I've got Austen on the brain) their favorite Jane Austen stories.

Oliver walked in to his office to see Felicity’s sister Allison sitting in one of the seats at the reception desk, her worn in leather jacket in place, her short hair barely brushing the collar.

“Hey there delinquent.”

She turned her head and smiled, “Hey there, hottie with the body. Thanks again for getting me that internship.”

“I did nothing,” he assured her, resting a hand briefly on her shoulders. “The people in charge of the internship were very impressed by your credentials.”

“And the fact you insisted on personally handing them in had nothing to do with it?”

“Absolutely not.” He leaned against the desk, his hands braced on the edge as his ankles crossed, and looked over his shoulder at Felicity who was standing as she organized an intimidating stack of files he hoped wasn’t bound for his desk. “We should get her together with Thea so she can have someone her age to hang out with during the summer.”

“Are you trying to set me up with your sister,” Allison asked with a wink.

Oliver smiled and shook his head, “Unfortunately she’s already dating a hoyden.”

“You don’t even know what a hoyden is,” Felicity corrected.

“I’m pretty sure whatever it is, Roy Harper is one.”

He looked over his shoulder again, meeting Felicity’s gaze with his ‘I’m charming and beautiful, don’t you want to get to know me better’ smile which she returned with a roll of her eyes because they both knew he did in fact know what a hoyden was, and it was in fact the best way to describe the young man in the red hoodie.

“Doesn’t matter,” Allison interrupted, the older couple’s gaze turning back to her. “I’m already seeing someone.”

Felicity scoffed as Oliver’s gaze turned protective big brother trying not to act protective, “We’re scoffing at me dating someone?”

His EA shrugged a shoulder, “It’s probably going to last as long as the others.”

“It only takes once,” Allison reminded her sister, her eyes narrowing.

“Fine, what’s her name?”

“Elizabeth, but not Lizzie,” she added, obviously quoting the girl in question. “She’s not some Jane Austen character.”

“Allie,” Felicity began, lifting the pile, a heavy sense of dread filled Oliver as he realized the stack of papers was probably intended for him. “If she doesn’t like Jane Austen, I don’t hold out much hope for her.”

“Not everyone thinks Jane Austen is the best thing England produced,” Allison called after her sister as she went from reception to Oliver’s office. She dropped the papers on Oliver’s desk, meeting his gaze through the glass with an expression which clearly indicated he should be spending time at his desk rather than hers.

He winked and then ignored the unspoken suggestion.

With a sigh Felicity returned to her desk, “You’re right, Allison. Some people think it’s Harry Potter.”

“All right, there’s obviously no getting through to you,” she stood, reaching down to pick up her red purse. “Felicity knows my schedule, when I’m going to be in town, so if Thea and the Hoyden are up for it, I’d love to meet them.”

Oliver nodded, accepting Allison’s now customary kiss on the cheek before she headed for the elevators.

“You’re thinking loudly again.”

With a start he stood up, turning to face his friend who was ponytails and glasses today with her pink and white polka-dot dress, “Sorry.”

“Get it out or it’s going to drive us both crazy the rest of the day and neither of us will get any work done.”

He hesitated again, but finally cleared his throat, “You’re considerate enough not mention the island unless I bring it up. I don’t want to bring up your parents and upset you.”

Her parents, as Oliver knew from the few discussions they’d had, were drunks and had been verbally abusive to both Felicity and Allison growing up. He understood it wasn’t easy for her to talk about and didn’t like bringing it up, but he had grown to care for Allison over the past few months.

But he wouldn’t risk hurting Felicity for anything.

“You want to know how they reacted to Allison being gay.”

He nodded, but didn’t push for an answer.

“The answer is not well. That’s why she’s only just now finishing college instead of two years ago. She was lost for a little while, and part of that was because when she came out to our parents they ignored it. They’d yelled and berated and belittled us over everything, over nothing, but when she makes one of the most important steps of her life they just act like she never said anything.”

He stepped around the desk, leaned against so their legs almost touched, “Did you use your loud voice?”

Felicity smiled at the light tease, readjusting her glasses absently, “I may have. I remember this time, it must have been the holidays or something, because a lot of the family was at the house and Allison mentioned a girl she was seeing and one of aunts asked when Allison decided she wanted to be gay. Like it was a pro-con list she’d worked on. Allison snapped, said she didn’t decide anything. Our aunt, in all her austere, I’ll sink down to your level attitude, sighed and asked when she realized she was gay. Allison asked when out aunt decided she was straight.”

With a heavy sigh because she wished it could have been different for the sister who was all but her twin, for the sister who was strong but had been beaten down so many times she no longer knew how strong she was.

It was a sigh for all the ways it could have been.

Oliver reached out and squeezed her hand once before letting go, “What did your aunt say?”

“That you don’t realize you’re straight, you just are. Before Allison could say anything I, with all the control of my mental faculties, told my aunt I realized I was straight when I was seven.”

Oliver chuckled, just picturing the scene and Felicity in all her bright anger, a smile on her face as she turned her aunt’s bitter comment on its head, “What did you say?”

Encouraged by his smile she told him, “That I realized I liked boys when Allison’s Barbies kissed each other and mine kissed Ken dolls.”

“I realized I liked girls when I was six.”

Behind her glasses, Felicity’s eyebrows rose, “Six? Why am I not surprised.”

Oliver smiled, “Raisa has a daughter a few years older than me she’d sometimes bring around and I’d follow her everywhere. Six-year-old Tommy didn’t get in the game till a year later.”

“All that experience he missed out on.”

Oliver nodded, “Send me Allison’s schedule and I’ll set something up Thea. If you want, you and I can tag as chaperones.”

“I think not.”

“We’ll go do something else then, while they cause mischief and mayhem,” he suggested to which she nodded, sitting at her desk as Oliver headed back to his.

But in the doorway he turned on his heels, “Emma.”

“Huh?”

“My favorite Jane Austen, I haven’t read the books, but I think I’ve seen all the movies. I watch movies when I can’t sleep,” he confessed at her look of curiosity. “I saw this version of it with that guy from Elementary.”

“Jonny Lee Miller.”

“Yeah, him, and I really liked. Something about two people who are meant for each other but have no idea because they’re so used to how things are.”

“I’m a Pride and Prejudice fan myself,” she told him with a smile. “Something about the irascible hero who falls in love despite his better judgment and the fiery herioine who is the only person in his life to stand up to him, who also falls in love despite her judgement.”

“She certainly had a way with the love stories.”

“She certainly did.”

“I don’t want to look at those papers.”

“Which explains why you’re standing in your doorway discussing Jane Austen,” she laughed. “I put a box of Band-Aids in your top middle drawer for paper cuts, now go be a good CEO and go through them.”

“Big Belly after?”

Felicity groaned, still not quite able to believe the best way to convince the billionaire, CEO, playboy, vigilante to do his work was to promise him a treat at the end of the day.

“Yes, fine.”

“All right. But if I’m not done by five I’m leaving it.”

She shook her head and turned to face her computer, a smile on her lips, “Whatever you say Mr. Queen.”


	7. The Nightmares Fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity reveals she's been having nightmares, and Oliver admits his nightmares of the island have come back

Oliver aimed the arrow and caught the last tennis ball midair before it had a chance to bounce again and objectively, it was a pretty damn good shot.

“I didn’t think you were going to get that one.”

Turning sharply he saw Felicity standing a few feet behind him, dressed in pink sweats and a tank top, a large cardigan hanging open from her shoulders. Her hair was pulled up in to a ponytail, her glasses perched on her nose as she smiled at him.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” he admitted, setting his bow down on one of the boxes of unopened crates which held the equipment which would eventually make up their new lair when they got around to unpacking.

“Probably because I’m not wearing heels,” she teased.

Glancing down he saw she was wearing slippers with koalas on them, and they were so quintessentially Felicity Oliver couldn’t help but smile, “Nice shoes.”

“Thank you.”

“What are you doing here? It’s late.”

“I can ask the same of you,” she challenged, setting her bag on her empty desk. “But since you asked first…I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d come by and set up my desk while things were quiet.”

Oliver shifted on his feet and studied the face he’d come to know as well his own and saw shadows beneath her blue eyes, shadows he recognized but had only ever seen in the mirror. Stepping forward he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, waiting till she looked up to meet his eyes, “What’s wrong, why can’t you sleep?”

“Usual reasons,” she evaded, but Oliver recognized nightmares when he saw them.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Felicity shrugged, Oliver’s hand sliding away as she stepped back to put distance between, “Because compared to what you must go through on a regular basis it didn’t seem worth mentioning. Don’t think I don’t know why you’re here at two in the morning.”

He didn’t deny his own nightmares had brought him here an hour before, “Felicity, just because someone else has a bad day doesn’t make your bad day means any less. Are they about Slade?”

“They're about all of it,” she confessed as she leaned back against the desk, her shoulder brushing against his when he matched her pose. “The Count, Tockman, Slade.”

“I’m sorry.”

Felicity scoffed, “I’m not blaming you Oliver. The Count was no one's fault, and I beat the Tockman, and even though I was scared with Slade I knew you were coming.” She wrapped her arms around her waist as if to ward off a chill, “But I’ll admit from the time you left the mansion to the time you showed at the warehouse I was scared.”

Oliver was silent for a moment as he stared across the lair at the empty glass case where his green leathers belonged, the crates Felicity had marked ‘do not touch’, at the place which would eventually become their new home when they were ready to make that step.

“The first night on the island,” he started, his voice quiet and not carrying much farther than their little bubble, the only place where he’d be comfortable enough to share this story. The only person he trusted with it, “It was probably the most terrified I have ever been. I didn’t know what was on the island, if there were animals which might kill me while I slept, if I survived the night only to die of starvation or hunger the next day…and every noise sent me in to a panic.

“Not to mention I’d just watched my father kill a man and then kill himself, so those gunshots were playing in my head every time I closed my eyes, so if it wasn’t the noises from the shadows it was the echo of the gun shots and I thought I’d lose my mind.”

He took a deep breath and found it easier to breathe than we’d first come down those steps by himself, “But eventually those nightmares became less frequent.”

“You’re saying the nightmares will stop.”

“No, but eventually they’ll lose the power to scare you and they'll fade.”

Felicity nodded, the words comforting even as the silence lingered on, comfortable and intimate as their shoulders brushed and the quiet of the lair seeped in to the skin.

“I didn’t know,” Felicity all but whispered. “That you still had nightmares.”

He shrugged, “They’ve faded since I’ve been back, and after Tommy, after we found another way, they almost stopped completely but all this with Slade brought back memories I thought I’d packed away a long time ago.”

“Maybe you should stop carrying them around and just get rid of them,” she suggested with a smile, bumping his shoulder with hers. “Make some room in that brain of yours for better memories.”

He smiled and bumped her shoulder back, “It’s not a bad idea.”

Oliver looked back at the crates, “Well, if we’re both going to be up and here, I suppose we might as well unpack some of this stuff.”

Felicity pushed off from the desk and headed towards the first pile, “No touching my computers.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he winked and reached for the first crate and began to unpack.


	8. Baby Betting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Digg realizes Felicity and Oliver have been talking more than he realized after he mentions building the crib for his soon to arrive child and Felicity reveals her and Oliver have talked kids

Digg walked in to the lair and let out a heavy sigh as he sat down on the couch Roy had dragged home in the middle of the night when no one could stop him.

In Digg’s mind, it was the best idea the kid had ever had.

Felicity turned in her chair, smiling at his look of exhaustion, “Get the crib together finally?”

“I did how many tours overseas?" he asked rhetorically. "Kept Oliver from killing himself. Kept you from killing him. Taught Roy how to shoot gun and I swear it was very nearly that crib which broke me.”

“But you won?”

“I won,” he assured her, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “I can hear you smiling gleefully and I just want you to remember this moment when you have to put a crib together and remember I’m the only one who can help you.”

“I don’t know about that,” Felicity teased, a smile still in her voice. “Oliver could have a kid before me.”

Digg opened his eyes and gave Felicity a disbelieving look, “Oliver Queen?”

Felicity shrugged, and it was only then Digg noticed she was wearing Oliver’s gray sweatshirt-which could be because the air conditioner was on high and no one took the time to fix it, but Digg highly doubted it.

“It’s not like he doesn’t ever want kids,” she pointed out, shrugging again when he raised a questioning brow. “We were talking about kids a few weeks ago.”

“You and Oliver were talking about kids,” Digg clarified slowly, worried he was going crazy and had heard wrong. How those two managed to have a serious conversation about kids and _not_ realize if either one of them had children it would probably be with the other was beyond him.

Then again, Digg realized Oliver probably had known, but hadn’t said anything to Felicity.

As per usual.

“I don’t even remember how we got to talking about it,” she admitted, her tone light as she recalled the conversation. “But he was saying he’d liked having him and Thea but sometimes wished they’d had another sibling but I told him three siblings makes it too easy for two of them to outnumber the third. Four kids is good, four keeps things even and balanced.”

Digg smiled at her logic but shook his head at the idea of four kids, “I think Lyla and me will just see how this first one goes.”

“Have you guys thought of names yet?”

“We can’t agree on anything,” he sighed with a shake of his head. Every time he mentioned a name it turned out Lyla had arrested someone with that same name and she didn't like the idea naming her kid, albeit not purposefully, after a criminal. Digg had grumbled to her that at the rate they were going they were going to have make a name up. She'd smiled and asked for bacon and ice cream.

“It’d help if you guys learned the sex," Felicity pointed out, bringing Digg back to the present though by his smile Felicity could easily see where his mind had wandered. "I can’t believe you guys are choosing to wait till the baby’s born to find out.”

“Of course you’d want to know,” Digg teased. “So you can have everything planned out.”

She rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t make sense for you two to argue about girl names if you’re going to have a boy.”

“You think it’s going to be a boy?” he was kind of hoping for a girl himself, but a boy would be nice.

“Yeah, Roy and I are voting boy, Oliver and Sara are voting girl. We’ve also got a pool going on length, weight, and the day it’s born, whoever gets the most right answers wins.”

"Wins what?"

"The pool, we all put money in to the pool though I had to remind Oliver fifty or twenty would be sufficient and he didn't need to put the first hundred dollar bill he found in the pocket of his jeans."

“You guys are betting on my kid?” Digg asked, surprised.

Felicity briefly looked sheepish, “Oliver and I thought it would be fun.”

He smiled and wondered if she was aware how many sentences in the last few months she’d started with ‘Oliver and I’ because he was pretty sure it was a lot. More than she’d used to before that was for sure.

And he’d given up trying to keep track of how many times Oliver teased Felicity about a possible second tattoo (though Digg didn’t know what the first tattoo was he didn’t bother to ask). In fact, Digg was pretty certain 90% of the reason Oliver had planned the Team Arrow barbecue at his family’s pool was to see if Felicity would wear a bikini and he could finally see if she really had a second tattoo or not.

When she’d shown up it had been in a high-waisted trendy two piece and she’d commented with a smile that _if_ she had a second tattoo there were a lot of ways to hide it.

“I can’t believe you guys are betting on my kid and not letting me in on the action,” he stood up and walked towards her desk, rubbing his hands together with anticipation. “Let me see what you guys have guessed and I’ll put in a twenty. Lyla will probably want in on the action too.”

She pulled up the file on her desk with a laugh, “All right father to be, step right up and make your predictions.”

He looked at the options and immediately knew one thing for sure, “All right, first off I’m voting girl.”


	9. Bubblegum Ring Engagement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very far in the future, inspired by a fic I wrote about Oliver proposing to Felicity and chaigirl86 wondered what Allison's reaction to the news would be and this happened, so this is for her

Allison smiled down at the [ring on her sister’s left hand](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2244933) which was clearly from a grocery store quarter machine, but it was the look of happiness on her older sister’s face which took her breath away.

She looked up at Oliver, tongue firmly in cheek, “Well, I guess now that you’re going to be my brother calling you hottie with the body would be inappropriate.”

Oliver laughed while Felicity rolled her eyes.

“It’s been inappropriate since Oliver and I started dating,” she pointed out, taking her hand back and looking at the cheap glass like it was the Hope diamond.

“You’re welcome for that,” Allison grinned with an exaggerated wink which Oliver had told her in the past reminded him of Felicity.

Again, Felicity rolled her eyes.

“No one asked you to butt in.”

“What are little sisters for?” Allison asked pointedly, hand on her jean clad hip.

They were at Felicity’s apartment-well, Felicity and Oliver’s apartment, as it had been for roughly the last four months of their six month relationship. Felicity had called and asked Allison if she could come in to town from Central City because she had Something Important to tell her.

Allison had figured, given her sister’s tone which glowed even in a voicemail, that Felicity was either engaged or knocked up.

And as soon as Felicity had opened the door she’d thrown her left hand in Allison’s face and, unable to hold back the joy, laughed.

There had been hugging and crying and the telling of the story which Allison assured them was perfect.

And honestly, it was.

Felicity deserved spontaneity, she deserved happy. She deserved gumball machine rings from the love of her life and hickeys on her neck which Allison, being the good sister she was, would discreetly point out before they left to get lunch.

She deserved to have someone look at her the way Oliver Queen looked at her.

And maybe someday she’d get that for herself.

“You’re going to be my maid honor, you know that right?” Felicity asked as she fiddled with the ring on her finger, obviously still not used to its weight after only two days.

“I’d kill you if you thought otherwise,” Allison assured her. “I don’t suppose you guys have picked a date yet?”

“No,” Oliver answered, leaning against the breakfast bar as they all huddled in the space between the kitchen and living room, too restless and happy to sit down. “We’re going to enjoy being engaged for a little while before we add the stress of wedding planning to our lives.”

Allison smiled, a quick and mischievous curl of the lips, “As if Thea and I are going to let you two have any say.”

“You do remember it’ll be our wedding, right?” Oliver asked with an amused shake of his head. “Not yours and Theas.”

Sighing dramatically she dropped her shoulders in defeat, “Alas, your sister being straight has prevented that from ever being a reality.”

“Thea should probably be my other bridesmaid,” Felicity commented absently, her head tilting. “And you’ll want Roy and Digg to stand up with you. We should make sure Detective Lance-“

“I thought we were waiting to plan the wedding?”

Allison watched Felicity grin, sufficiently abashed, “Right. Moratorium on the stress.”

“Thank you,” Oliver leaned forward and kissed her, the familiar intimacy almost awkward to watch when he looked down and met her eyes with the soft smile of a man eternally in love.

God damn, but the two were practically a romance novel come to life.

“But if you want to get carried away, be my guest.”

“Thank you.” She smiled up at him and then seemed to remember they weren’t alone and reached for her purse. “We should probably get going, Roy and Thea are meeting us as the restaurant.”

“Yeah, you might want to check your makeup first Lissy.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes, “Is my eyeliner smearing?”

“No,” Allison assured her, but tapped her neck with her forefinger. “But you might want to touch up your concealer.”

Blue eyes widened behind dark frames, “Right. Thank you.”

She and Oliver both watched her walk down the hall to the bathroom and Allison waited till she was firmly out of ear shot before looking up at Oliver, her head tilting in a way she didn’t know mirrored Felicity’s.

“Thank you.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes, looking adorably befuddled at the sincerity in the normally brash and cocky young woman, “For what?”

“For making my big sister happy.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he assured her softly.

“I know,” Allison responded, her voice matching his. “That’s the best part.”

As if trying to shake the heavy mood Oliver threw his arm around her shoulders in a friendly gesture, “You know. If it wasn’t for you being Felicity’s maid of honor you’d give Roy and Digg a run for their money at being my best man.”

Allison grinned up at him, warming to the idea, “You know I’d throw a kick ass bachelor party. I’d even make sure to audition all of the strippers, just to be sure they’re top notch.”

The blush rose on his cheeks again as he shook his head, “Sometimes you remind me of myself before I met your sister and it terrifies me a little.”

“We all got our wild oats to sow,” she agreed soberly, humor glinting in her eyes.

“God help us all.”

Felicity came out of the bathroom to find Allison and Oliver laughing and looked immediately suspicious, “Dare I ask?”

“Nope,” Oliver assured her, taking her hand. “Come on, any later and Thea’s going to accuse us of forgetting about her.”

“So I was thinking,” Felicity started as they headed towards the door. “Would be it be too cliché to have green as one of our wedding colors?”

 


End file.
